1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to shaker tops, and more particularly, to shaker tops designed to attach to baby feeding bottles to facilitate the mixing of solids and liquids of beverages that require thorough dispersion of the solid components into the liquid components thereof.
2. Description of Prior Art
The current method of preparing formula in a baby bottle involves many steps. First, water must be boiled, allowed to cool to approximately 100 degrees and poured into baby bottles. Bottled purified water can be substituted. The solid, a powdered milk preparation, is then dropped directly into the liquid. Shaking of the mixture in the bottle is only readily enabled by provision and fitting of a closure flat disc in place of the nipple in a nipple ring since shaking with a nipple in place is likely to cause milk to be shaken out threw the nipple opening.
It is well known that some powdered or particle type solids, such as solid protein food particles found in powdered baby formula, when wetted tend to lump and do not readily disperse into liquids. Even after long shaking, undispersed solids remain in the form of floating lumps. To avoid this requires long term shaking, straining, or heating of liquid to aid in the dissolving process. These undissolved particles can plug the nipple opening and ingestion of these lumps can cause stomach upset in small infants.
Using warm, boiled water facilitates the dispersion of the milk particles into the liquid but the steam from the water tends to make the dry formula stick to the measuring cup as it is poured into the warm water. Before the measuring cup can be returned to the dry milk can, it should be washed and dried to prevent the unused formula from becoming contaminated. Additionally, when the formula is prepared using warm water, an increased risk of bacterial decay and loss of nutrients is present as the spoilage process is encouraged the moment the formula comes in contact with the warmth of the water. The prepared milk must be used immediately or refrigeraated and used within 24 to 48 hours according to the formula manufacturer's directions. Extra care must be taken to prevent the prepared bottle from being reheated more than once.
Since boiling kills bacteria but does not remove all harmful chemicals from water, purified or distilled bottled water offers greater protection from an infant's delicate digestion system.
However, using cool bottled or boiled water makes the dispersion of the milk particles into the liquid more difficult. Merely shaking the contents in a closed bottle, as is presently done, does not efficiently disperse the formula into the water. Several varieties of prior art mixing apparatuses are known and disclosed. One such device, U.S. Pat. No. 3,747,414 refers to a basket to disperse powdered milk. This device does not provide a mixing chamber, however, which would allow movement of the fluid to facilitate the break-up of the particles. The basket would displace the milk when preparing a full 8-ounce bottle, further decreasing the movement of the liquid and a potential cause for spillage. Also, the basket has many small openings which would be difficult to clean, a factor of major significance to mothers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,050 provides for a means to mix formula but this device would not fit a standard size baby bottle sold in the U.S. Additionally, no means is provided, such as a shaking disc, to disperse the milk particles other than the shaking motion, which does not satisfactorily solve the problem. Other mixing devices known, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,003,555 and the container marketed by Tupperware called the Quick-Shake might effectively disperse the milk lumps but these containers are not designed to adapt to a baby bottle. The use of these devices would require the sterilization of the shaker container and parts after each use in addition to the sterilization of the baby bottle. Since time is at a premium for parents, this extra device to be washed and sterilized would greatly discourage it's use. And the extra handling and pouring of the prepared formula would expose it to an increased chance of contamination. Further, the design of the shaking disc found in the Tupperware Quick-Shake is such that food particles tend to stick inside the grooves of the arms of the disc causing a loss of formula and difficulty in cleaning.
Most users, therefore, would find it desirable to have a tool to attached directly to a baby bottle that would efficiently disperse the powdered formula into the water.